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Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Do you know about the internet flowing to your power socket?

You may not realize it, but when you flick on a light switch, you may have just deployed a cutting-edge Industrial Internet technology.

The Industrial Internet is today changing industries across sectors, harnessing the power of big data to make industrial applications smarter. Some of those new applications are very visible, such as automation in mining, or more efficient assembly lines. But others are taking place at a microscopic level, flowing through the power lines below our feet and behind our walls.

The way electricity is generated and distributed is being fundamentally changed by Industrial Internet solutions. The World Economic Forum has concluded that digital technologies have the potential to unlock savings of €1.14 trillion in the next decade by optimizing the electricity grid and integrating customer service.

In this rapidly changing world, how do stakeholders feel about the promise and peril of these new possibilities? The Ideas Factory community and POLITICO readers were asked to weigh in, specifically on what these new grid technologies will change, and how this will affect the consumer.

“Perhaps the most advanced and complete example of the offering is the Poste Intelligent system in the north of France with RTE.”

Respondents agreed that in the energy sector, grid management and energy use will be most affected by Industrial Internet applications, rather than traditional activities such as fuel extraction and power generation. And the applications are myriad.

One such application is digital substations, which use new wide-area applications to watch weather patterns. The voltage in specific areas is then adjusted to adjust to the weather conditions.

American multinational GE now has 19 such digital substations in operation worldwide, making it the most recognised provider of these solutions.

“Perhaps the most advanced and complete example of the offering is the Poste Intelligent system in the north of France with RTE — a great example of the future of connecting wind energy to transmission,” says Reinaldo Garcia, president and CEO of Grid Solutions from GE Energy Connections.

But where do consumers want these innovations? Respondents identified home power management as the area in which consumers are most eager for this new technology. Phone apps that can remotely manage power use are already available but, for the moment, have limited utility because only the newest appliance models are compatible with them. There are also limited incentives for controlling the timing of appliance use because so few utilities have the grid technology required to offer flexible pricing based on time of day.

Respondents identified energy use apps and flexible pricing as the two most important innovations consumers are eager for. Of less short-term interest, they said, is the ability for consumers to generate their own power with renewable energy and feed it into the grid.

But in the long-term this could prove one of the most useful applications of the Industrial Internet in fighting climate change. More small-scale renewable generation is coming online in Europe, but grids are having a hard time accommodating it. GE is working on a number of technologies in this area, such as the Brilliant Wind Turbine and Solar PV inverters using digital analytics to smooth the power intermittency delivered to the grid. Solar power systems of the future must also combine battery storage with digital intelligence to accomplish the same thing. Another such project is the Nice Grid demonstration project in the south of France (Enedis), integrating distributed photovoltaics and storage.

In the context of the next UN climate summit in Morocco this fall, much of the focus on grid solutions is on emissions reduction. The majority of respondents (60 percent Ideas Factory, 43 percent POLITICO readers) said that energy efficiency offers the most promise for reducing emissions. The efficiency of grids is being increased through automation technology such as managed distributed energy solutions. Having distributed energy resources that can not only produce power, but also support the system with ancillary services such as voltage regulation and dynamic power curtailment will be important.

Overall, respondents indicated there is much that can be done to improve grid efficiency and resilience – but the right regulatory framework is needed. Permitting, in particular, needs to be improved. But among energy stakeholders, there is great enthusiasm about what is around the corner for Europe’s energy grids.

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